Has Adrian Ramos Done Enough to Earn Another Year at Borussia Dortmund?

Back in January, we called 2016 a make-or-break year for Adrian Ramos.

The Colombian hadn't gotten many chances to prove himself in the first half of the season, making only four starts as the lone back-up central forward behind the terrific Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. 

With the current international break putting the action on hold for Borussia Dortmund, it's a good time to revisit Ramos' situation.

The 30-year-old has to be pretty happy with the way things have gone for him in recent weeks. He's already made three starts in the Bundesliga, after all of his four starts of the "Hinrunde"—as the first half of the season is called in Germany—came in the UEFA Europa League or the DFB-Pokal.

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He's scored in two of his starts—against Darmstadt and Augsburg—and added a very important go-ahead goal against Hoffenheim as a substitute. His performance against Augsburg at the weekend was arguably his best performance of the season and quite possibly his best in a Dortmund shirt overall.

ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko rated him 10 out of 10 and wrote:

"

Hardly present in the first half due to a lack of service, Ramos was ultimately the reason Aubameyang wasn't missed too severely. He chested down a long pass from [Mats] Hummels in the 69th minute, took another touch and laid the ball on a silver platter for [Gonzalo] Castro. Even Robert Lewandowski couldn't have done better.

"

The comparison with Bayern Munich's superstar looks odd at first blush, but it's not as far-fetched as one might think. Ramos is the Bundesliga's most effective striker this season, not Lewandowski nor Aubameyang.

As the Squawka.com's comparison matrix between the three strikers shows, Ramos scores 1.07 goals per 90 minutes in the league, with the Pole at 1.05 and the Gabonese at 0.91. The 30-year-old isn't only prolific himself, he creates a lot for team-mates, too. He assists 0.54 goals per 90 minutes.

All in all, "Ramos has been responsible for a Dortmund goal every 50 minutes," per the league's official website. "This is the best record in the division, with every other player needing at least 70 minutes to make such a telling contribution."

The Colombian is in esteemed company with those stats, as WhoScored.com tweeted:

Of course, the numbers are out of context a bit, as they would regress to the mean if Ramos made more starts.

Still, they are impressive and indicative of a player on the upswing, as tactics blogger Tom Payne noted during the Augsburg match:

Having said all that, there are still some questions about Ramos' long-term fit at Signal Iduna Park.

At 30 years of age, he hardly fits the bill as a potential successor for Aubameyang. Africa's reigning Footballer of the Year is under contract with the Black and Yellows until 2020 and will not be allowed to move anytime soon, but it's unrealistic to think he'll see out his contract at the Westfalenstadion.

The 26-year-old spoke frankly about his desire to play for Real Madrid in an interview with french sport paper L'Equipe last year (h/t Stephan Uersfeld of ESPN FC), calling it a childhood dream to one day play for Los Merengues. Virtually every other big club in Europe has been linked with Aubameyang as well.

With that in mind, Dortmund would do well to prepare for the future and sign an eventual successor for Aubameyang in one of the next few transfer windows, and that could leave Ramos as the odd man out.

The 30-year-old himself was reportedly close to moving to China in the winter transfer window until the Ruhr side pulled the plug on a transfer, per Thomas Hennecke of sport magazine Kicker (link in German).

With his performances in 2016, Ramos has done enough to earn another year in Black and Yellow, but don't be surprised if the two sides part ways in the summer.

Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.